Rain and Forgiveness
by Leiria
Summary: After Katara finds her mother's killer, she needs time before she faces the others once again. Zuko, her companion through the journey, decides to make a stop to give her that time. What happens that night has lasting consequences and Katara insists that they can't be together because their lives are meant for different paths. Zuko disagrees.


**AN: I haven't written Zutara in a while and I felt the itch after reading some fanfics. I don't know where this is going, but I have an idea in my head of what it's about. We'll find out as the story goes! ^_^ Join me in the journey?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or anything related to it. This story is my creation based on characters and situations that are not. I make no money from this.**

**Rain and Forgiveness**

By Leiria

Katara stared at the sobbing, pitiful man on in the mud before her. She couldn't believe that this was the man who had killed her mother. She couldn't believe that this pathetic soul, this blubbering idiot begging her for forgiveness, could be the murderer and destroyer of her life.

The ice shards fell to the ground around her as harmless drops of water. The man looked up at her, unable to believe his luck. Katara's eyes were hard and cold and the man could see that forgiveness did not dwell there. She would let him live, but she would never forget the pain and grief he had caused. He would live, but he would not be forgiven.

She turned and walked away from him in a rush. Her feet splashed through the mud and muck and water on the ground. The prince stared down at him with pity before he, too, turned and walked away. The ex-soldier stared in disbelief at the people who had let him survive the day and knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he was _lucky_ to be alive.

Katara didn't stop to find out if Zuko had finished the job. She kept walking through the rain pelting her face, the mud slowing her steps, and the tears blurring her vision. She walked through the heartbreak and the knowledge that she had come face-to-face with her mother's murderer and had _let him live._ She didn't even want to know what Zuko thought of it…or her.

She reached the edge of the town and realized that the sky was getting darker and the rain was getting heavier. She sighed and hoped that it wouldn't mean that they were stuck on the island overnight. Still being in Fire Nation territory, she knew that they weren't welcome. She skirted around the town, somehow knowing that Zuko was right behind her, and went to look for where they had left Aang's sky bison.

As she reached Appa, she slowed her steps and allowed the banished prince to catch up to her. He reached her as she looked up at the beast and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll drive," he said softly before he helped her up onto the animal's back. Katara didn't say anything. She pulled herself up into the saddle and sat at the back. Zuko followed her up and took the reins, guiding Appa into the air.

As the darkness began to grow around them, Zuko heard Katara begin to cry. He realized that she wasn't going to be ready to face the others until morning at the earliest. He sighed and diverted Appa's path. He knew exactly where they were and exactly where they should go. There was one place in the world that he thought of from his childhood with fond memories. One place in the world that he knew they would never be found. Ember Island.

Katara didn't look up until they landed. She was confused and didn't recognize the area. As she sat up in the saddle and looked around, Zuko realized he needed to explain quickly or else she would panic. "We're on Ember Island," he said. "My family has a vacation house here that we haven't been to in ages. I figured you could use some time," he added.

Katara's face softened. "Thank you," she said. Zuko slid off the side of Appa and helped Katara down to the ground. They walked toward the house and Zuko shoved the door open. He ushered Katara inside and out of the rain where she used her waterbending to pull the rainwater from their skin and clothes. Zuko lit a fire in the hearth and sat down with Katara. She stared numbly into the flames and didn't say a word.

Zuko sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Katara shrugged her shoulders. "What is there to talk about?" she asked. "I found him. I let him live. We're here. What else is there to say?"

"How about why you let him live?" Zuko asked.

Katara shrugged again. "He didn't deserve to die," she said softly. "He wanted it too much. It was worse for him to let him live with his guilt and the knowledge of what his actions caused than to kill him and put him out of his misery."

"So instead of forgiving him, as Aang said you should, you're punishing him?"

Katara slowly nodded. "Yes," she said softly. "Imagine what you would do if you found out your mother had been murdered," she said, looking at him for the first time since sitting down by the fire. "What would you do after tracking down her killer? Would you forgive him or would you find the worst punishment possible?"

Zuko sighed. "Honestly, I think I would kill him without a second thought," he replied. "But I see what you're saying."

"I could never forgive the man who ruined my life," Katara said softly. "I couldn't forgive him seven years ago and I won't ten years from now. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing that he will be looking over his shoulder for me for the rest of his life."

"Is it satisfying?" Zuko asked.

Katara sighed. "No," she said softly. "I hate myself right now. I hate that I could be so weak as to succumb to revenge." She sighed heavily and folded her arms across her knees, burying her face in them. "I'm the one who always takes care of everything and everyone," she said. Zuko had to strain to hear her. "I cook, I clean, I mend, I teach…" she sighed heavily before she looked up again. "Everyone depends on me and what I do in order to keep going. I'm the one person of our group, aside from Aang, who would be the _first_ to stand up and forgive someone, no matter what they've done. Sokka can hold a grudge like the best of them and Toph knows how to make people really nervous as she contemplates what she's going to do to them. But me? I'm everyone's _mother_," she said, spitting out the word as if it was a curse. "Mothers don't hold grudges."

"They do when their family is threatened," Zuko said softly, causing Katara to look at him. "You still haven't quite forgiven me after all."

Katara sighed. "Do you really believe that?" she asked.

Zuko's face changed from stoic to curious. "Have you?" he asked.

Katara gave him a small shadow of a smile. "Zuko, do you truly think I would have come with you, alone, if I didn't trust you?" she asked.

"No, but—"

"Do you think I would trust you if I hadn't forgiven you?" Katara asked, interrupting Zuko before he could finish voicing his response. The Fire Nation prince was silent for a moment, thinking about her words. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head. "Then what makes you think I still haven't done so?" Katara asked.

"You haven't done or said anything to make me think differently," Zuko replied. "I mean, you hardly speak to me when we're alone—this is the most you've said to me since I found you guys—and you hate it when I'm alone with anyone else. You're always watching me. You act like you don't trust me."

"I'm not watching you because I don't trust you, Zuko," Katara said softly. "And I don't hate it when you're alone with any of the others. I hate it when you're alone with one of the girls. And I'm not quiet when I'm alone with you because I don't trust you, it's because I don't know what to say."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

Katara sighed. "What's the point in saying anything?" she asked. "You're the next Fire Lord and I'm the only water bender in the Southern Water Tribe. I'm practically _destined_ to be with Aang, and I know I probably can't refuse no matter how much I'd like to. I'm stuck, Zuko, and so are you. Duty prevents me from saying anything more than what I've already said."

Zuko tilted his head to the side, staring at Katara in a whole new light. "You have feelings for me, don't you?" he asked, amazed that his fantasies could possibly be reciprocated.

Katara sighed heavily. "Yes," she whispered. "I always have…."

"And if I told you that those feelings were mutual?" Zuko asked.

Katara sighed again and closed her eyes, a tear falling down her cheek with the hurricane of emotions raging through her. "I would tell you to put it from your mind," she replied with a shaking voice. "You have Mai and the Fire Nation…. I have Aang…. We can never be…."

"What if I told you that I don't give a damn about Mai or what they expect from me?" Zuko asked. "What if I told you that you are the _only_ person I want at my side and I will do whatever is in my power to make that happen?"

Katara shook her head. "They would never support you marrying another type of bender," she replied. "Especially not a water bender. It's insane to even consider it."

Zuko sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he reached over and held Katara's chin between his finger and thumb. He turned her face toward him and met her eyes unwaveringly. "I don't care what they think," he said. "I'm the prince of the Fire Nation. It is _my_ decision who I marry and bring into the palace. Mai is _not_ the marriage type. She hates children and one of the things that the Fire Lady _must_ do is bare children. Mai also refused to let me touch her, despite what others may believe. I also never felt the desire to pursue that next step with her. You are the thought that drives me wild at night," he confessed. "I would have one night with you and a lifetime of loneliness to follow if it truly cannot be, than never know the taste of your skin or the touch of your flesh. I would risk everything for you and throw caution into the wind than live fifty or sixty more years knowing that I gave up the chance."

"Zuko…" Katara whispered, "we can't…."

"We _can,_" Zuko replied. "Right now, neither of us have _any_ obligations. I am the _banished_ prince, which means that I have _no_ loyalty to the throne. You are a fugitive on the run with a motley crew of outcasts, which means that no one cares about what you do tonight. If I can't change your mind with one night, then I'll agree that we have to go our separate ways when this is all over, but until I have the chance to prove myself to you, I will not simply walk away and let you give up. I don't want to be tortured by my dreams and wonder for the rest of my life if your skin really is as soft as it looks or if you could ever look at me the way you do in my dreams. Now that I know you have these same feelings for me, I can't back off, Katara. I can't let you turn me away without a fight."

Tears fell from her eyes. It was all she could do not to lean in and kiss him with the fever she felt every night when her dreams were filled with his visage. Fantasies of him lying over her, his strong and muscled arms holding her close, filled her mind and made things low in her body tighten with anticipation.

Zuko watched the heat rise in her eyes and waited until her mind was full to bursting with images of their bodies entwining before he pulled her forcefully to him and captured her mouth with his own. He swallowed her moan as she gave into him, leaning into him. He guided them down to the floor and let his hands roam where only his eyes had traveled before. He could still taste the rain on her skin and noticed the way she smelled like water. She tasted like a cold drink from a spring and it cooled the fire within him.

He, in turn, burned through her veins like molten lava, making her temperature rise with each passing second. She ached for him in ways that she had never felt before. Every fiber of her body reached to him and was met with a desire that perfectly matched her own.

Zuko pulled away, breaking the kiss. Breathing heavily, he met Katara's eyes and held her gaze. "If one night is all we have, I would make it worth remembering," he vowed.

Panting, Katara nodded. "So would I," she breathlessly whispered.

"Have you ever?" Zuko asked.

Katara shook her head. "You?" she asked.

To her surprise, Zuko also shook his head. "I've never met anyone who could make my blood race like you can and I always knew that the woman who could do that to me would be the only one I would go this far with," he said. "So, you see, we have to have the ability to write our own fates, because I have to have an heir and there will be no woman after you."

"Zuko…we can't have tomorrow," Katara whispered. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. "All we have is tonight."

Zuko nodded and kissed the water bender once more. "I'll make the most of it then," he promised.

True to his word, Zuko made it a night to remember. He and Katara spent the night worshiping each other, admiring each other, getting to know every curve, scar, and dimple. They memorized each other from head to toe, slowly removing each hindering garment as they did. They kissed and caressed every inch. Zuko found that he loved the reaction he got from Katara when he sucked on her nipples. Katara loved the way Zuko's body stiffened with excitement when she raked her nails up his back. It was the most intimate and sexual experience for both of them, and they hadn't even reached sex yet.

It was as the fire began to die that Zuko finally placed the head of his throbbing member to the opening of Katara's sex. He burned with the need to fill her with his seed and she boiled with the desire to have him pierce inside of her. She spread her legs wide, welcoming him into her folds. Slowly, Zuko began to press his way into her body, watching her face as each inch slowly moved in. She cried out in pain and pleasure as he pierced her maidenhood and he was afraid, for a moment, that he had done something wrong.

"Don't you dare stop now," Katara breathlessly whispered when Zuko didn't move.

"I hurt you," he dumbly replied.

Katara shook her head, thoughts gone into the wind with the intensity of the feelings she experienced. "Don't stop," she repeated. She wrapped her legs around Zuko's hips, pulling him more deeply inside of her until she had him fully sheathed inside of her. She began to rock her hips, somehow knowing what to do instinctually. Zuko, lost in the feeling and the heat of her body, moved with her, slowly pulling out to thrust back in.

It was over almost as soon as it had begun. Not having the experience, they were both quickly spent, and neither one was fulfilled. One night was all they had, and they would make it worth the risk. Over and over, Zuko entered Katara's body and filled her with his seed. Over and over, they made their love for each other physical. Over and over, until the dawn began to peek through dusty windows and they fell, exhausted, into a slumber that they didn't wake from until late that afternoon.

Katara was the first to open her eyes. Her body was sore and she relished in the feeling because it signified the step she had taken into womanhood. She carefully sat up, wishing that she didn't have to leave the circle of Zuko's arms, and began the hunt for her clothes. She dressed and looked around for food outside of the house. She had to fish in the ocean before she found anything truly filling for a meal, but by the time she returned to the house, Zuko had a fire ready and waiting.

They ate in silence, knowing what they wanted to say was better left unspoken. Katara wanted to run away from it all and never go back to Aang and the others, but her conscience would never let her walk away from this fight. Nor would it let Zuko walk away from his duty to the Fire Nation.

Still, she wanted to postpone going back to them for as long as possible.

"We're not going to talk about it ever again, are we?" Zuko softly asked. "Once we leave this island, it'll be like we never did anything, won't it?"

Katara slowly nodded. "It's for the best," she said softly.

"What if I can't live that way?" Zuko asked softly. "What if the only way I'll agree to fight is if I can have you when it's over?"

Katara sighed heavily and put her breakfast down. "You know that isn't possible, Zuko," she said softly. "We both have a duty that we have to perform and it doesn't involve us being together. Our paths…they meet but they never join and become one. We're only together for a short period of time before we are inevitably forced away from each other."

"I can't accept that, Katara," Zuko protested. "I can't believe that my path would bring me to my soul mate only to rip me away from her again. I can't believe that I could find you and lose you all in the same lifetime unless I was truly meant to be with you. You are the _only_ woman that I can ever love, Katara, and I won't stand idly by while you walk away from me. I'll fight for you," he vowed. "I won't back down until you're mine for the rest of our lives."

"And if the rest of our lives is only two more weeks?" Katara demanded, glaring at Zuko with cold eyes. "What happens if one or both of us die when the comet returns? What happens if we live?"

"I want you to be my wife, Katara," Zuko said. "I love you."

"Don't say that!" Katara cried, tears falling from her eyes. "If we say it, then we really won't be able to go back to the way things were and we _must_!" she cried. "If we don't go back to normal, then Aang will know something's changed and he might not fulfill his destiny as the Avatar and we'll never see an end to this war! We're not _allowed_ to fall in love, Zuko! No matter what we might feel for each other."

"So you do feel something!" Zuko cried.

"Of course I do!" Katara yelled. She dropped her half-eaten fish into the fire as she hastily stood and faced the scarred prince. "I love you with all of my heart, Zuko," she said with a voice thickened by tears. "But I know that no matter what I feel for you, I'm never going to be able to be with you. Aang depends on me more than I care to admit and he won't let us be together. He will find some way of making that be the reason he fails. He thinks he loves me, Zuko, but I'm practically the only mother he's ever known. If I break his spirits now, your father wins this war."

"Then after the war," Zuko said, standing up. He reached out to Katara, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders. "After the war, when everything is calm and settled, be with me. Marry me. Be my queen. Prove to the world that the Fire Nation really does want peace by allowing me to show them that you, as a representative of the Southern Water Tribe, a people nearly destroyed by mine, have forgiven me, the man in charge of those responsible for those actions. No one is better than you are to help me prove that the Fire Nation truly means peace. Mai is from an old line of Fire Nation nobility. She is the _worst_ person for me to marry and claim peace with. No one would believe it. You say that we can't be together, but I see a different world, Katara. You're the only one who can help me make it real."

Katara shook her head. "They will never accept a waterbender as Fire Lady," she whispered. "I could never be your queen. No matter how much the world changes, they will only ever see me as a waterbender who stole the crown and corrupted the royal line."

Zuko pulled Katara to him tightly and kissed her with bruising force. "I love you," he said against her lips. He kissed his way from her mouth to her ear. "I love you," he whispered again, causing Katara to cry. "If you don't love me, tell me and I'll stop," he said. "But you have to truly mean that you don't love me. Otherwise, I will take you right here, all over again, and make you mine, come what may." He reached for her hand and placed it over his fiercely beating heart. "This belongs to you," he said. He moved her hand down to the hard appendage at his pelvis. "This is yours," he added. He turned his palm to her and cupped her apex. "This is mine," he said before he trailed his hand up her body. He cupped her breast in his hand and squeezed just enough to excite her. He rubbed his thumb over where he knew her nipple would be and practically felt it harden under his touch. "This is mine," he repeated. He flattened his hand over her heart. "This is mine," he said once more. "I live here. Now tell me that you don't love me and I'll leave you alone for the rest of my days," he promised. "But you have to mean it."

Katara met Zuko's eyes. "You know I can't do that," she said.

Zuko nodded. "I know," he said before he kissed her once more. Katara gave into the kiss and followed Zuko down to the floor again. This time she was on top. When they were nude once more, she lowered her body over his, melding his body to her own. She couldn't believe how deep he went and how much she loved the feeling of his body wedded to hers. She held her hands over his heart and felt it beat frantically as she rocked her body against his.

He came with an explosion of heat deep inside of her body and she felt herself tighten around him as they both cried out. For a moment, they were still, hardly daring to move for fear that they would find themselves only dreaming. Then, when the moment was over, Zuko flipped them over so that he was on top once more, and began to thrust in and out of Katara with force and passion. She cried out each time he pressed into her, going as deep as humanly possible. He and Katara screamed with the force of their climax and he kept thrusting through the intense pleasure, bringing them both quickly to that peak again before their bodies had a chance to calm down. Over and over and thrust into her until his body could literally move no more. It was only then that he collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily into her shoulder, both of them covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

"I love you," Katara whispered, hoping Zuko wouldn't hear.

It was late when they finally returned to the others. Katara tried to act like nothing had changed, but she knew that if they looked closely enough, they would find the truth easily. There were marks on her body that had nothing to do with vengeance and her legs shook a little as she walked. Everything had changed.

That was why she was so shaken when Zuko had taken that bolt of lightning for her on the day of the comet's arrival. And, after defeating Azula, she rushed to him and begged him to live. She did everything she could to heal him, thankfully with success, and couldn't help but kiss him when he opened his eyes once more. When the healers said he was free to go, he showed her to the room adjacent to his own so that he could be at her side no matter what time it was. He had to admit to himself that it was also so that he could sneak into her room and have his way with her, but he would never have said the words out loud.

When the others arrived and stories were told, Zuko could feel Katara's distance. She, he knew, believed this was the end. They would be forced to go their separate ways now, at least if her prediction was true. Zuko planned to make sure she was wrong and relished in the thought of being able to look her in the eye and say, "I told you so."

Katara was the first to retire that evening. As host, Zuko found himself obliged to stay with the others instead of following her back to her room. It was all he could do to sit there and pretend to be involved in the conversation when his thoughts were back on Ember Island and the night they had stolen.

Katara's thoughts were also back on that night and the day that had followed. She hadn't excused herself for her fatigue, she had excused herself because of the nausea that was creeping into her system. She knew what it meant. She felt the life growing rapidly within her womb. She wanted to return to the tribe as quickly as she possibly could and pray that no one followed her, but she knew they wouldn't allow her to simply disappear. Still, she didn't have a choice. She stared out through her window to the south and thought of Gran and her father and how disappointed they would be with her, though still providing her with support and a home to raise her child in. She simply had to hurry back there before the pregnancy began to show.

With her decision made, Katara began to pack her things. She rushed around the room, collecting the things that she had removed from her supplies and placing them neatly at the foot of her bed. As exhausted as she was, she knew that she couldn't begin to attempt the journey before the morning. She hoped that she would rise early enough that she could slip out without being noticed.

It was as she was finishing tying the strings of her pack that she heard the door open. She looked behind her to see Zuko standing in the doorway. "You're packing?" he asked.

Katara nodded. "I'm going back to the tribe in the morning," she said. "I've made my decision. You can't stop me."

"As Fire Lord, I can, actually," he replied. "Now would you like to tell me _why_ you're planning to leave without a word?"

Katara shook her head and quickly regretted the motion. She rushed for the chamber pot and emptied what little was left in her stomach from the last bout of nausea. She wiped her face with a shaking hand and felt weak.

When she met Zuko's eyes, she realized that he knew her secret.

"You are _not_ leaving," he said. "I don't care what you think or believe, but I cannot let you go now."

"Zuko, I told you, we _can't_ be together."

Zuko pointed at her stomach. "That is my _heir_," he hissed. "I can't let you leave. Not knowing that you're carrying my child."

Katara felt the tears in her eyes. "I'm not giving you a choice," she whispered. "Either I leave in the morning, or I leave tonight."

Zuko shook his head. "I will place a guard at your door so that you don't," he said. "You are carrying the next generation of this family in your womb and I cannot, in good conscience, let you leave this palace."

"I'm not giving you a choice, Zuko," Katara whispered. "I have to do this. For me."

"I'll come for you," Zuko promised.

"When the time comes, I'll be waiting," Katara replied before she walked passed Zuko and slipped through the palace undetected. She realized that the only way to leave without being noticed until it was too late was to steal Appa. Katara sighed and searched for the giant sky bison. When she climbed aboard its back and guided him to the air, she began to truly let herself cry. She sobbed on the animal's back as he flew to the tribe. As the air grew colder, Katara donned the furs that she had once forsaken and noticed that they were now too small for her. So much had changed in the time they had been away that she hadn't even noticed how much she'd grown.

She reached the tribe as the sun rose over the ice and snow. Katara quickly found her hut and sent Appa off, back to Aang and the Fire Nation, before she entered the home she and Sokka had left behind to help the Avatar end the war. Now that it was over, home was the only place she wanted to be.

Kanna was awake when Katara entered the hut. She looked up in surprise and couldn't help but know something had changed. "What is it?" she asked as Katara sat down, clearly weary from her journey.

"I had to come back early," Katara confessed. "The war is over, but…I couldn't stay there anymore. I missed being here too much."

Kanna scoffed at Katara's lame excuse. "Now tell me why you're really home," she said.

Katara sighed and held her hands tightly over her stomach. She clenched her eyes shut and tears fell down her cheeks. "I love someone I can never be with," she whispered. "And yet, miraculously, his child grows within me. I will always have a part of him, even though I can never be at his side."

"Who is this, dear?" Kanna asked. "The Avatar?"

Katara shook her head, much to her grandmother's surprise. "The Fire Nation prince," she whispered. "The man who assumes the mantle of Fire Lord today at sunset. His child…his heart…."

"And you've left him?" Kanna asked. "Why?"

"Because we can't be together," Katara whispered. "I don't want to talk about it anymore…."

Kanna sighed, knowing that she couldn't say anything to make Katara change her mind. She left the young woman to her silence and solitude and prepared for her grandson's return, wondering what surprises _he_ would be bringing back with him.

Months passed and not a day went by when she didn't cross Zuko's mind. Was she thinking of him as much as he thought of her? Was Sokka ready for his blood once he returned to the tribe and realized that his sister was no longer the innocent girl he believed her to be? Had she even told anyone whose child she carried?

He resolved to send for her. Letter after letter was returned to him, unopened. With growing frustration, Zuko realized what he needed to do. If she wouldn't answer his letters, he would meet her face-to-face and he would not leave until she agreed to see him. He would go to her under the guise of visiting the tribe for the signing of a peace treaty. Her father was the chief. There was no way she could get away with not seeing him.

It was three days before he could make the journey and he sent a messenger ahead of him to alert the chief that Zuko would be arriving to sign the peace treaty in their territory, as a show of good faith.

When Katara heard the news, she felt as though the breath was knocked out of her. The entire tribe believed that Katara had found a nice water bender who had died in the war effort and that was how she had come to be with child. Only Sokka and Suki knew that was a front. She hadn't told them the truth, but by their reaction to hers when she heard the news of Zuko's impending arrival, she knew they had put events together. Still, at nearly nine months pregnant, Katara knew her secret was safe for a while longer at least.

On the day of Zuko's arrival, Katara was so anxious that she could hardly sit still. Suki, so watchful of everything that Katara's behavior didn't slip passed her, pulled her new sister aside where no one would hear their conversation. "What has you so nervous?" she asked.

"Zuko," Katara replied. "I haven't seen him since that night and…"

"He's the father, isn't he?" Suki asked.

Katara stared at her sister in shock. "How did you…"

"You gave it away with your behavior," Suki replied. "Now listen, Katara, there's no reason why you two can't just be together, so why don't you go back to the Fire Nation with him so that the baby has both of his parents looking out for him instead of just one?"

"There is no way the people of the Fire Nation are going to let a child born by a _water_bender be their heir," Katara snapped. "Even if I _wanted_ to go back with him, it would be futile. They wouldn't allow it."

"Zuko is their king," Suki said. "That means it doesn't _matter_ what everyone else wants, he's the one who writes the laws. He's the one who decides who rules and who serves. No one can take that away from him."

"Then you don't understand politics," Katara said. "The people could raise a revolt against him and his line if they find out about me. It's not as if I can hide it, Suki. I _scream_ waterbender."

"You're worrying over nothing!" Suki cried. "Be with the man that you love because you are _clearly_ miserable without him."

"What would you know?" Katara demanded. "You're with the man that you love. You're married to him and no one cares that you're from the Earth Kingdom."

"Exactly," Suki said. "Sokka is the next chief of this tribe. If nationality was _so_ important to the rulers of the nations, I would not be his wife. A woman of the Water Tribes would be his wife. If it doesn't matter here, why should it matter with the Fire Nation?"

"Because we're benders!" Katara cried. "You wouldn't understand."

"So now you're better than me because you're a bender, is that it?" Suki asked.

Katara stared at her sister in shock. "That's not what I meant," she whispered.

"No," Suki agreed, "but it's what you said."

Katara sighed. "No, it's not," she protested. "I said that it matters because we're benders. If Sokka was a bender, it would matter who he married, but he's not, so it's okay that you're from the Earth Kingdom. It's okay that he didn't marry a bender. It's okay that he has you and loves you and can be with you, but things are different in the Fire Nation. They pride their bending so much that to taint firebending with waterbending is a sin. They will _never_ accept us."

"You didn't stay long enough to find out," Suki said. "You left before anyone knew what was going on. You left in the middle of the night, stealing Appa and hoping that he would make it back to Aang before the morning. You are so afraid to have what you want that you're looking for every possible excuse you can find so that you don't get it! Spirits, Katara! Don't you see that the _only_ one saying that the two of you can't be together is you?"

Katara stared at Suki in shock, not knowing what to say. She turned away from her sister as tears blurred her vision and quickly retreated back to her bedroom, where she sat down on her bed and cradled her stomach, wondering who the baby would look like and what abilities he or she might have.

When Zuko's ship docked at the Water Tribe's edge, he wasn't expecting to see Katara with the welcoming party. He stared at her in amazement as he disembarked from the ship. She looked like a pregnant goddess and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to take her in his arms, whisk her away onto his ship, and then race back to the Fire Nation before anyone could utter a single protest. However, he actually had business to do, even if that business was just an excuse to see her.

He forced himself to greet her father first with a smile and a handshake. Sokka was next as the "prince" of the tribe. Then, and only then, could he stand in front of Katara and gaze into her sapphire eyes and silently beg her to love him again.

She kissed his cheek by way of greeting, but said nothing beyond a formal hello. She was the first to turn away and begin walking to their hut. Zuko looked around and couldn't help but notice how much larger the tribe had grown, now that they didn't have to worry about the Fire Nation trying to destroy it every other week. It must have been nice to feel that sense of security again.

"I must confess, Lord Zuko, we weren't expecting you to come here," Hakoda said. "I was expecting to visit you in the Fire Nation for this treaty."

"I felt the gesture would mean more if I came to you," Zuko replied. "My family caused you and yours a lot of grief and, on a personal level, it felt right for me to come to you instead of the other way around. Besides, signing this treaty in your territory shows that the Fire Nation is willing to compromise. Before now, we would have demanded you come to us."

The chief nodded. "Of course," he agreed before Katara opened the door of the hut. She stepped inside and held the door open for her father, brother, sister and Zuko to enter, before she secured it behind them. Zuko watched as she moved more slowly than he remembered. She also seemed to be much less graceful as she kneeled at the table. Zuko, Sokka, and Hakoda joined her at the table while Suki prepared the tea.

Zuko pulled the treaty from the sleeve of his thick coat. He unrolled it and laid it flat on the table. "This scroll says that there will be no further wars or conflicts between our countries," he explained. "It establishes free trade and enforces us to give you whatever aid you deem necessary in rebuilding after the war. Whatever you may need, you only need to ask and it will be given to you. Should the peace be violated and war or conflict break out between our nations, and more than just that of a personal level, the treaty will be null and void and the responsible nation will be forced to pay back the cost of damages and will be occupied by the other nation until peace is re-established."

Hakoda nodded. "Trade and commerce, peace and unity," he said. "It sounds good to me," he said before he turned the scroll towards him and began to read.

Zuko watched him for a moment before he looked to Sokka. "How have you been?" he asked.

Sokka shrugged. "Fine," he said. "Suki and I were married a few months back and I've been trying to get Katara to tell me who put her in the state she's in now so that I may kill him, but she refuses to tell me."

Zuko looked at Katara and she met his eyes. "Does the father know?" he asked.

"Yes," Katara softly replied.

"I imagine he's out of his mind with worry about you," Zuko replied. "You should let him know that you're doing alright before he is overcome with that worry and seeks you out."

"Perhaps I'm not ready to face him?" she asked in response, leading Zuko to feel the first pang of guilt for springing his presence on her without much warning.

"Perhaps he will not be able to stay away," he said softly before looking back at Hakoda to see him sign the scroll. He turned the scroll to Zuko, who also signed it before rolling it up and tucking it back in his sleeve. He produced a second scroll from his other sleeve and handed it to Hakoda. "This is an identical scroll to the one you just signed so that you have a copy as well," he explained. Hakoda unraveled the scroll to make sure that it was the same. He nodded, signed the second copy, and turned it for Zuko to sign as well.

"We are officially at peace," Zuko said with a smile, holding out his hand for Hakoda to shake. Hakoda smiled, nodded, and accepted Zuko's hand as Suki passed out the tea. Hakoda quickly excused himself so that the younger adults could reacquaint themselves after their long separation. Nearly a year had passed since the end of the war and Katara's flight home. As Hakoda looked back at them from the seclusion of a hallway, he couldn't help but wonder if the father of his grandchild just so happened to be sitting at the table with the daughter who carried it. If so, he wasn't sure how long this pace would last, unless Zuko stood up to make Katara an honest woman.

Sokka noticed how drawn and reserved Katara seemed to be while in Zuko's presence. Every joke he made only elicited a small smile from her, which was drastically different from the Katara he usually saw. Suki, he realized, knew more than he did and Sokka was seconds away from demanding the answers when Katara cried out in pain and held her hands over her swollen stomach.

"Katara!" Sokka cried. "What is it?"

"It's the baby," Katara hissed before another contraction made her cry out again. "It's early!"

"We have to get her to the healers' hut," Suki said. "Zuko, help her up."

Zuko jumped into action. He helped Katara to her feet, keeping her standing as another contraction seemed to burst through her. She squeezed his hand tightly and, for a moment, Zuko wondered if she was going to break it. Sokka came up on Katara's other side and together, the two of them followed Suki to the healers. They burst through the door, causing the women inside to start, before quickly jumping to action. They carried Katara back into a secluded area where only Suki was allowed to follow. Zuko paced back and forth while Sokka rushed back home to alert his father and grandmother that the baby was being born. While he paced, Zuko couldn't help but wonder if it was a son or a daughter; a waterbender or a firebender.

Hours passed and Zuko continued to pace with Hakoda and Sokka watching him closely. Every time Katara screamed, Zuko felt as though the sound was a knife piercing his breast. It was _his_ fault she was going through this. If only he had been more careful. If only he had been thinking with his head and not his lust. If only he had found a way to keep her in the Fire Nation _willingly_.

He sighed heavily and mentally kicked himself.

"You don't have to be here, Zuko," Sokka said. Zuko noticed the calculating tone in Sokka's voice. Katara may have kept the secret for him, but Zuko's reaction to her labor was about to give up the game. "You can go back to the ship and I'll come tell you how things go later."

Zuko shook his head. "I need to be here," he said softly.

"Why?" Hakoda slowly asked.

Zuko sighed and looked back at the wall separating him from the only woman he had ever loved. Her scream made him flinch and he saw the knowledge spread in the eyes of the other men in his beloved's life. Still, they expected him to say the words. "Because that is my child," he said softly.

Sokka reached Zuko before Hakoda could even move. He slammed Zuko against the wall, holding the taller man by the collar of his coat. "How could you do this?" Sokka yelled. "How could you do that to her and then make her go through all of this by herself? How could you be so cold that you don't even acknowledge that you _have_ a child coming and be nervous like this as it's being born?"

"She didn't let me!" Zuko cried, meeting Sokka's eyes unwaveringly. "I tried to stop her! I didn't want her to leave the Fire Nation, but she insisted on it! She insisted that we _can't_ be together no matter how many times I told her that I want to marry her!" Zuko pushed the stunned Sokka away from him. He fixed his coat and sighed. "It was the night we found your mother's killer," Zuko said softly. He saw Hakoda's eyes widen and wondered if they had ever told him about the incident. "She wasn't ready to face everyone yet, so I took her to the house on Ember Island. One thing led to another and she kept insisting that one night was all that we were ever going to get so we made it memorable."

Sokka scoffed. "I'll say," he muttered.

Zuko glared at him before he continued. "I begged her to change her mind," he said. "I told her that, as Fire Lord, I was the one in charge of the rules and they would just have to deal with it. If I wanted a waterbender for a wife, then they would have to accept it. She kept refusing. She kept saying that I had to marry a Fire Nation citizen and carry on a pure line, untainted by water or any other element. She said that she had to stay strong for Aang because she knew that he wanted her. I told her she was crazy, that we were the masters of our fate, but she wouldn't _listen_ to me. She'd made up her mind.

"I found out about the baby the night she left the Fire Nation," Zuko continued. He saw Sokka's face redden with his anger. "I tried to stop her. I told her that the child was my heir and I had a right to be in his or her life. I told her that I could make it so she couldn't leave and she insisted. I knew that if I forced her to stay behind, she would hate me and that was the last thing I wanted. I love her so much that the thought of her hating me breaks me," he confessed, chancing a glance up to Sokka and Hakoda's gazes. He saw the understanding in Hakoda's face, but Sokka's was still hard with anger and hate.

"I wanted to follow her and bring her back, but I knew she needed time," he said. "I let her have that time. I had things that I had to do in the Fire Nation and I let that consume my life, but that didn't stop me from dedicating at least an hour or two to her each night," he said as he reached into a pocket. He pulled out a red and blue necklace with a pendant combining the Fire Nation and Water Tribe symbols. "I want her to be my queen," he said softly. "Not a day goes by in which I don't think about her and miss her."

Sokka's hard and tense edges softened. Clearly, Zuko had been thinking about this heavily if he had gone through the trouble of making Katara a betrothal necklace. Sokka looked at his father. They seemed to reach the same conclusion and sighed in unison. "Okay," Hakoda said softly.

"Okay?" Zuko asked.

Hakoda nodded. "If she accepts your proposal, you have our blessing," he said.

Zuko smiled. "Thank you," he said in time to hear a baby's cry.

A moment later, the door separating Katara from the rest of them opened and Suki appeared. "Zuko?" she said. "She wants to see you."

Zuko nodded and brushed passed Suki into where his child had been born. Katara sat, drenched in sweat, cradling a pale baby in her arms. As Zuko approached, she looked up at him and smiled. "She has your eyes," she whispered.

With tears in his eyes, Zuko looked down at the baby in his lover's arms. She looked up at the world with wide, gold eyes and Zuko knew that his princess would be a firebender. He leaned forward and kissed his newborn daughter before he turned his eyes to the woman who bore her. "Do you still believe we are not meant to be?" he asked. "What other reason could explain how I was here for this?"

Katara chuckled. "I'm too exhausted to think," she replied.

"Good," Zuko said with a smile. He held out the necklace. "Marry me instead."

Katara stared at the necklace in shock. "But…"

"You're too tired to think remember?" he asked. Katara mutely nodded. "Then tell me what you feel."

Katara met Zuko's amber eyes. "I never stopped loving you," she said softly.

"Then say you'll marry me and I'll forgive you for running away," Zuko replied.

Katara nodded. "Okay," she said softly before Zuko kissed her for the first time since the day the war ended. He was filled with such relief at knowing that she was with him again, forever this time, and that they would rule together. He believed in her abilities as a leader and knew that she would keep him from losing his temper, as he had a couple of times in the near-year he had been Fire Lord. He pulled away from and kissed his daughter's forehead and relished in the thought that he was now a father. Everything had changed again.

"What will we call her?" Zuko asked, looking to Katara with eyes shimmering with tears.

"How about Kya?" she asked. "It was my mother's killer that brought us together to create her, why not honor that memory?"

Zuko smiled. "It sounds perfect," he whispered as the door opened and Sokka, Hakoda, Suki, and Kanna walked inside. They all admired the baby, noted the amber eyes she looked at the world through, and told Katara she had done an amazing job. Zuko refused to leave her side and stayed with her even after the others had gone back home. He realized that they would never have that honeymoon stage, but Zuko didn't care. He was ready to move on to the next step with Katara, so long as she never left his side again.

**AN: This started to get away from me, so I brought it back to this point. I was going to go on with Aang showing up and realizing that Zuko is the father and creating a second arc with that, but I realized that it was already quite lengthy and I wanted this to be a simple one-shot. If you want to know more about what happened between Katara and Aang, let me know and I'll be happy to go back and write a companion to this piece. ^_^ R&R!**


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